Hello art travelers, how are you all doing? Since we're coming from Paris, we're going to take advantage of our location and visit Madrid, the capital of my country. We will visit one of my favorite places, and a must-see, the Prado Museum. It’s one of the most important museums in the world, and it houses an impressive collection of European art, especially by Spanish and Flemish painters such as Velázquez, Goya, or Hieronymus Bosch. In today's blog, we're going to go straight to Goya's Black Paintings, created in his later years. 

Goya had witnessed the horrible Napoleonic War and its devastating consequences, but also he had become old and ill. For example he had become completely deaf. In summary, he was in the middle of a profound existential and personal crisis. The paintings are black. But not just metaphorically, they are horrifying. Black predominates, and in every stroke you can feel his hopelessness and the brutality of his time. It’s remarkable that Goya originally painted these disturbing images on the walls of his country house. This is the decoration he wanted for his life. 

During my visit to the room where the paintings are shown, I was shocked by Saturn Devouring His Son. The god is literally eating his son, like in the myth. He has already eaten his head, yet the most terrifying part is the lunatic eyes of Saturn.

In contrast to this gore, Half-Submerged Dog, apparently shows no horror or violence. It’s the head of a little dog looking somewhere, which might be drowning or trapped in a kind of sand mass. Despite its minimalism, I spent half an hour watching it. It transmitted to me a very deep feeling of sadness, helplessness and loneliness. 

When I left the room my spirit was black. Hopefully my mood would change as soon as I entered Bosch's colorful room. See you there.